Retailers Applaud as Judge Strikes Fed Swipe-Fee Cap

WASHINGTON — Retailers on Wednesday applauded a federal judge’s decision to strike down the way the Federal Reserve had set debit card swipe fees, calling the ruling “a major victory for supermarket shoppers.”

"We are delighted that the court agreed that the Federal Reserve Board exceeded its authority under the law in nearly doubling the interchange fees banks are allowed to charge merchants for debit transactions,” FMI said in a statement. “This ruling marks a major a victory for supermarket shoppers and will ultimately result in lower costs at the checkout line by billions."

The ruling means the Federal Reserve Board must come up with a new rule.

“Congress clearly told the Fed to introduce competition and transparency into the debit card marketplace by making multiple networks available, so as to reduce swipe fees for merchants and their customers,” Mallory Duncan, senior vice president and general counsel of NRF, said in a statement. “The Fed failed to do so, and the court rightly ruled against them as a result. Today’s decision is the first step in setting these initial wrongs right and will ensure that swipe fee reform is done correctly.”